Cold therapy is probably one of the oldest treatment modalities. Regular application of cold material on painful or inflamed parts of the body improves symptoms by alleviating pain by decreasing blood flow to the inflamed organ or body part, thereby decreasing sensation. Controlled local application of ice packs is an ordinary treatment in modern rheumatology.
Ageing is an inevitable reality that entails changes in an individual’s physical appearance and overall health status. In fact, according to the Global Health Observatory (GHO) data reported by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the average life expectancy of the global population in the year 2015 was 71.4 years (World Health Organisation, 2016). Moreover, by the year 2030, it is expected that one out of five of the global population will be over 65 years old.
Athletes and individuals who engage in physical activities and strenuous routines are prone to develop musculoskeletal sports injuries, which may result from accidents, improper use of equipment and poor training practices including failure to do warm-up and stretching exercises. Some of the most common types of sports injuries are muscle sprains and strains, ligament or tendon tears, joint dislocation and bone fracture that can eventually affect an athlete’s performance.
The use of cold therapy to relieve pain and inflammation associated with sports injuries and overuse has been practiced for centuries in different parts of the world. However, in the year 1981, Yamauchi et al. introduced a form of whole body cold-exposure, also referred to as whole body cryotherapy (WBC),that aims to treat rheumatic diseases. With WBC’s noteworthy benefits, it gradually becomes an accepted practice in some parts of the world, not only to facilitate recovery among athletes, but also to improve overall organ function and body performance. In fact, several studies were conducted to determine the benefits of WBC in supporting different organ systems such as the circulatory, respiratory and immune systems (Westerlund, 2009).
Whole body cryotherapy (WBC) has been widely used in treating rheumatism and various sports injuries as well as in facilitating athletic recovery. However, WBC can also work beyond relieving pain and inflammation. In fact, studies have shown several noteworthy benefits of WBC on an individual’s mental health, particularly among patients who suffer from psychiatric and sleep problems.
The wide range of applications of cold therapy has long been recognized for thousands of years. In fact, the therapeutic benefits of cold temperature, particularly its analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects, were discovered by the ancient Egyptians and the Greek physician Hippocrates (Dawber & Cooper, 2001). Such intervention has evolved from the simple application of ice packs to the development of cutting edge equipment which utilizes the concept involving the effects of cold temperature in stimulating different body responses. Eventually, this idea has led to the emergence of different methods of cryotherapy, which is known to alleviate pain and inflammation commonly associated with various health conditions.
From a simple application of cold ice pack to a more complex use of equipment such as cryosauna and cryochamber, cryotherapy has been noted to bring noteworthy benefits that can significantly impact both beauty and wellness. Hence, some of the methods that utilize the concept behind cryotherapy are geared towards achieving healthy and youthful skin. One of which is the use of various forms of °CRYO Facials.
Obesity is considered to be a serious global health crisis associated with different comorbidities affecting various organ systems as manifested by certain health conditions such as obstructive sleep apnea, malignancies, coronary artery disease and metabolic problems. Hence, wide range of treatment options to manage weight are being utilised to address this issue.
During the past centuries, application of cold therapy has been used to treat a wide range of sports injuries and to alleviate muscle pain after a series of strenuous exercises. However, through several research studies, it was discovered that the benefits of different types of cold therapy, such as cryotherapy, are not limited to facilitating recovery after an injury. In fact, it has also been used in improving an individual’s body performance and function in terms of flexibility, or ‘the ability of a joint or series of joints to move through an unrestricted, pain free range of motion (ROM)’ (UC Davis Sports Medicine, 2016). Hence, such effect will not only benefit athletes, but also individuals who engage in activities requiring adequate flexibility, such as yoga.
Various types of cryotherapy have shown a wide range of benefits in managing and treating different health conditions, particularly in reducing inflammation related to rheumatism and sports injuries. Aside from being considered as a curative technique, the results of several scientific studies have also revealed the potential benefits of cryotherapy in preventive medicine, such as in averting migraine attacks, asthma exacerbation, early onset of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and the occurrence of hair loss or alopecia among cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.
For several years, cryotherapy has been utilized to treat sports injuries among athletes and to relieve pain and inflammation among patients with rheumatism. Hence, such intervention was noted to bring a significant impact in improving the quality of life of many patients around the globe. Aside from this, recent advancement in technology has led to the discovery of more complex applications of cryotherapy such as its potential benefit in the emerging trend of biohacking.
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